On June 16, a special election will be held to fill the seat vacated by Ward 2 D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans.

Evans resigned on January 7 to avoid a council vote on his removal based on alleged conflicts of interests.

The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of Evan’s term, which ends in January 2021, according to WAMU. 

A lawsuit filed by the Illinois Opportunity Project over Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s executive order on dark money in elections has been dismissed.

The Illinois-based conservative advocacy group filed the lawsuit in U.S. federal court in Helena objecting to Executive Order 15-2018.

The Executive order requires organizations receiving large state contracts to report political contributions that exceed $2,500, even if the disclosures are not required under federal election laws.

Judge Charles C. Lovell ruled the Illinois Opportunity Project could not prove it had been harmed by the executive order because current or potential donors refused to contribute money because they would be named.

The advocacy group has until January 21 to file an amended complaint.

Campaign Finance

National: “Trump Donor Charged with Obstructing Inauguration Inquiry” by Jim Mustian and Alan Suderman for AP News

National: “Shadow Group Provides Sanders Super PAC Support He Scorns” by Bruian Slodysko for AP News

Washington: “Seattle Council Advances Ban on Most Political Spending By ‘Foreign-Influenced’ Companies” by Daniel Beekman for Seattle Times

Ethics

National: “Duncan Hunter Resigns from Congress” by Chris Marquette for Roll Call

Georgia: “Ex-Atlanta Official Gets 2-Year Sentence in Corruption Probe” by Kate Brumbeck for AP News

Maryland: “Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Announces Ethics Reform Legislation, Fends Off Questions About His Firm” by Luke Braodwater and Pamela Wood for Baltimore Sun

Vermont: “Some Legislators’ Financial Disclosures Were Late, Report Says” by Colin Flanders for Seven Days

Lobbying

National: “Ex-Tea Party Lawmakers Turn Heads on K Street” by Alex Gangitano for The Hill

Missouri: “Town and Country Mayor, Who Is a Registered Lobbyist, Tripped Up by Recent Ethics Law Change” by Jack Suntrup for St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The Seattle City Council is considering legislation limiting the ability of Super PACs to spend unlimited amounts of money in Seattle elections.

Council Member Lorena González introduced the Clean Campaigns Act to reduce the amount of money Super PACs funnel into elections.

The proposed legislation would limit Super PACs from receiving more than $5,000 per year from any single individual or corporation.

The act would also block multinational corporations, defined as companies with more than one percent ownership from a single foreign national or more than five percent ownership from multiple foreign nationals, from spending money on local elections.

Another proposed change would require all political advertising outside of election years to follow similar reporting requirements to current rules for election advertisements.

The Clean Campaigns Act is currently being considered in council chambers and could see a full council vote as early as next week.

Campaign Finance

National: “Bipartisan Group of Campaign Finance Lawyers Urge Leaders to ‘Immediately’ Restore Quorum at Federal Election Commission” by Michelle Ye Hee Lee (Washington Post) for MSN

Washington DC: “D.C. Council Member Jack Evans to Resign Over Ethics Violations; Was City’s Longest-Serving Lawmaker” by Fenit Nirappil for Washington Post

Ethics

National: “Facebook Bans Deepfakes, but New Policy May Not Cover Controversial Pelosi Video” by Tony Romm, Drew Harwell, and Isaac Stanley-Becker (Washington Post) for MSN

National: “Bolton Is Willing to Testify in Trump Impeachment Trial, Raising Pressure for Witnesses” by Nicholas Fandos and Michael Schmidt (New York Times) for MSN

National: “Hunter Will Likely Receive His Taxpayer-Funded Congressional Pension Despite Guilty Plea” by Charles Clark and Morgan Cook for San Diego Union Tribune

Florida: “Nonprofit Group Criticizes Lawmakers’ Move Toward Limiting Local Power” by Jim Turner (News Service of Florida) for South Florida Sun Sentinel

Minnesota: “Legislator’s Work as St. Paul Mayor’s Aide Raises Red Flag” by Jim Walsh for Minneapolis Star Tribune

Washington DC: “Top D.C. Ethics Investigator Resigns Amid Scrutiny of His Office” by Fenit Nirappil (Washington Post) for Laredo Morning Times

On January 2, Rochelle Ford became the acting director of the District of Columbia’s Board of Ethics and Government Accountability.

Ford was the Board’s Senior Attorney Advisor and had served as Interim General Counsel.

Ford replaces Brent Wolfingbarger, who resigned following a council oversight hearing where Wolfingbarger’s office’s performance came under criticism, according to the Washington City Paper.

His resignation was effective on December 31, 2019.

A special election has been called for Senate District 11 to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Martin Sandoval, effective January 1, 2020.

Sandoval resigned amid a federal corruption investigation.

The primary will be held on March 17 and the general election will be November 3.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has scheduled a special election to be held on March 24 for Queens borough president.

The seat became vacant when President Melinda Katz, a Democrat from Forest Hills, resigned to become Queens District Attorney.

The New Mexico state ethics commission opened on January 2.

The commission was created by a constitutional amendment passed in November 2018.

The seven member-structure was specified in a bill signed last March by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Former Judge William F. Lang was appointed by Lujan Grisham to be the commission’s first chairman.

The commission will issue advisory opinions regarding campaign finance, government contracts, and lobbying disclosure law and will investigate complaints of potential violations.

The alleged offense must have occurred after June of 2019, and all accusations will be confidential until the commission decides to hold a public hearing.

The commission has the authority to impose civil penalties and can recommend disciplinary action, including impeachment.

Campaign Finance

Alaska: “Sponsor Says Alaska Elections Initiative Has Enough Signatures to Be Placed on Ballot” by Andrew Kitchenman for Alaska Public Media

California: “L.A. to Curb Developer Donations, but Some Fear Corporate Contributions Could Mask Source of Giving” by Emily Alpert Reyes for Los Angeles Times

Kansas: “Group Resists Naming Donors After Pro-Kobach Ads in Kansas” by John Hanna for AP News

Pennsylvania: “Pittsburgh Campaign Rules Curb Contributions, but Punish Some Candidates” by Rich Lord for Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Ethics

Illinois: “Vendor Bribed CPS Employee with Vacation Home Stay During Bid for $30M Contract, Inspector General Says” by Nader Issa for Chicago Sun-Times

Missouri: “Clean Missouri Redistricting Changes to Be Discussed by Legislators” by Lillie Hegeman for Columbia Missourian

New Jersey: “Fix the ‘Toxic Culture’ in N.J. Politics, Top Senator Demands after NJ.com Report on Sexual Harassment” by Kelly Heyboer and Susan Livio (NJ Advance Media) for Newark Star Ledger

New Jersey: “N.J. Won’t Dismiss Ethics Complaint in $40M School Named After the Lt. Gov.” by Adam Clark (NJ Advance Media) for Newark Star Ledger

Rep. Jennifer Williamson resigned from her Oregon House of Representatives District 36 seat to focus on her campaign for secretary of state.

Multnomah County Democrats can forward three to five names to the Multnomah County Commission for a replacement.

The commissioners will hold a public hearing on January 16 to decide which of the Democratic Party’s several nominees to select to fill the vacancy.

The Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, announced a special election for February 4 for Senate District 13.

The seat is vacant after Sen. Greg Kirk died in December after a battle with cancer.

A runoff election is scheduled for March 3 if no candidate receives a majority of the vote during the special election.

Campaign Finance

Maryland: “Former Maryland Delegate Sentenced to Six Months in Prison for Misusing Campaign Funds” by Michael Kunzelman for AP News

Montana: “Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Bullock” by Holly Michels for Helena Independent Record

Ethics

National: “Judges Struggle Over Trump Bid to Block McGahn Congressional Testimony” by Jan Wolfe and Lawrence Hurley for Reuters

Minnesota: “Proposed Changes to Campaign Spending, Lobbying Laws Put on Ice” by Brian Bakst for Minnesota Public Radio

New Mexico: “New State Watchdog Ready to Investigate Ethics Complaints” by Dan McKay for Albuquerque Journal

Lobbying

National: “FBI Raids Home, Office of Lobbyist Michael Esposito” by Devlin Barrett, Jonathan O’Connell, and Beth Reinhard for Washington Post

Indiana: “Former Indiana State Lawmaker Won’t Face Felony Charges Related to Violating Lobbying Laws” by Chris Sikich and Tony Cook for Indianapolis Star

Redistricting

North Carolina: “NC Voter ID Law Written with ‘Discriminatory Intent,’ Says Judge Who Just Blocked It” by Wil Doran for Raleigh News and Observer

On December 19, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics launched the system-generated Client Semiannual Report (CSA) feature on the state’s online Lobbying Application system.

Contractual clients who lobby on their own behalf and do not utilize the services of any retained lobbyists are not required to file CSA reports.

Instead, system-generated CSA reports will be created with information directly imported from filed lobbyist bimonthly reports covering the applicable reporting period.

The system will not create a system-generated CSA if an Employed Principal Lobbyist has submitted a CSA report for the January to June reporting period.

Also, contractual clients are still required to disclose sources of funding or indicate source of funding reporting is not required.

No filing fee is required for system-generated CSA reports except to add retained lobbyist information.

Adding retained lobbyists requires a $50 filing fee and filing CSA reports going forward.